VILLAGERS have accused an Amberley pub of not being open about plans to extend its hours.

Residents claim they were unaware the Black Horse was extending its opening hours - and are now powerless to stop the plans.

Angry locals are threatening to take the issue to the local government ombudsman - although pub bosses maintain they abided by all the requirements of the law, adding that any late night opening would be well planned and not cause a nuisance.

Under new licensing laws, pub landlords have to display a notice on their premises or on a nearby lampost with details of proposals for extended hours.

Landlords also have to advertise in a local newspaper, likely to be read by local people, to give residents the chance to object.

But villager Margaret Edmunds claims the Black Horse's notice was obscured behind a hanging basket and says because the advertisement was placed in a Bristol based newspaper, the Western Daily Press, rather than the Stroud News & Journal, it went unread.

The 28-day consultation process has now ended, and licence-holders Phil and Anne Marie Brooker have been granted permission to stay open until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights, and midnight the rest of the week, including Sunday.

"There's extreme anxiety in the village," said Ms Edmunds.

"People are very dissatisfied with the way the consultation process was handled.

"We feel it's the council's responsibility to ensure the application is advertised in a publication which is widely read in the community."

Another Amberley resident said: "This is a quiet village and we want a village pub.

"I spoke to the village shop and out of 1,500 residents, only four take the Western Daily Press.

"We are really upset and angry about it. They should have played it with a much more open hand."

A spokesman for Enterprise Inns, the brewery which owns the Black Horse, said late night opening would be done sensitively.

"This particular pub is very much a part of village life and any late opening would be done with the village in mind, for example, to support a local event," she said.

"The pub followed all the legal requirements, which met the regulations set down by the new law and local authorities."

Mike Lewis, of Stroud District Council's licensing department, said that the application met the requirements set down by law.

"The 28 day period is set out in statute and we are not at liberty to consider objections after that," he said.